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A Japanese Art Journey: A Curator's Memoir of Polka Dot Pumpkins, Paper Dolls and Woodblock Prints
- GenresMemoirNonfictionJapan
208 pages, Hardcover
Published November 11, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 1, 2025
Origami, anime, swords, sake, and more!
A MUST-READ for art lovers and anyone interested in Japanese culture!
We get to go behind the scenes as the author takes us on her journey from a small village in Scotland to becoming a leading specialist in Asian art. Her story is compelling, but the book is so much more than a memoir! Meher McArthur's "A Japanese Art Journey" is a delightful book that takes us inside the delicious world of museums, collectors, and art.
McArthur's deep appreciation for the power of art to connect and inspire comes from her unique perspective as a "Persian Highlander," a nickname her father called her and her siblings. (Not only was she a multicultural kid, born to a Scottish father and a Persian mother, but she also has lived in India, Scotland, Canada, England, Japan, and the US.)
It was fun to read about artist, Yayoi Kusama and it was cool to experience a wide variety of Japanese art forms, including ancient woodblock prints, folk art, fine painting, gardens, origami, anime, calligraphy, the sake bottle, and more. It's worth purchasing the book just for the gorgeous color images and beautiful illustrations. I especially loved that each chapter contains a Japanese language lesson. The author deftly brings to life the spirit and meaning of the chosen Japanese phrase or word by linking it to the themes running through her personal and professional life. (Like we learn "ikigai," which refers to the thing that gives your life meaning and purpose, as the author discovers her life purpose )
A MUST-READ for art lovers and anyone interested in Japanese culture!
We get to go behind the scenes as the author takes us on her journey from a small village in Scotland to becoming a leading specialist in Asian art. Her story is compelling, but the book is so much more than a memoir! Meher McArthur's "A Japanese Art Journey" is a delightful book that takes us inside the delicious world of museums, collectors, and art.
McArthur's deep appreciation for the power of art to connect and inspire comes from her unique perspective as a "Persian Highlander," a nickname her father called her and her siblings. (Not only was she a multicultural kid, born to a Scottish father and a Persian mother, but she also has lived in India, Scotland, Canada, England, Japan, and the US.)
It was fun to read about artist, Yayoi Kusama and it was cool to experience a wide variety of Japanese art forms, including ancient woodblock prints, folk art, fine painting, gardens, origami, anime, calligraphy, the sake bottle, and more. It's worth purchasing the book just for the gorgeous color images and beautiful illustrations. I especially loved that each chapter contains a Japanese language lesson. The author deftly brings to life the spirit and meaning of the chosen Japanese phrase or word by linking it to the themes running through her personal and professional life. (Like we learn "ikigai," which refers to the thing that gives your life meaning and purpose, as the author discovers her life purpose )
October 17, 2025
A profoundly multi-cultural and inspiring journey. How lovely to meander along the path of a woman’s lifelong study of ancient and contemporary Japanese arts.
From the first pages of this unexpected memoir, I was pulled into McArthur's journey studying arts in Japan at a young age, eventually becoming an influential LA art historian who's multi-cultural Scottish-Iranian-Indian roots served to deepen her studies.
Meher refers to one 18C artist as "warm hearted," a description which aptly reflects her personal journey. She teaches us how ancient Japanese arts can, when intimately understood, influence the lives of those of us in the twenty-first century. "En" which Meher describes as "connection," swirls throughout this memoir of arts, motherhood, and friendship, as entrancing as walking down a winding path of an ancient Japanese garden.
---Leslie Buck author of Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship In The Gardens Of Kyoto
From the first pages of this unexpected memoir, I was pulled into McArthur's journey studying arts in Japan at a young age, eventually becoming an influential LA art historian who's multi-cultural Scottish-Iranian-Indian roots served to deepen her studies.
Meher refers to one 18C artist as "warm hearted," a description which aptly reflects her personal journey. She teaches us how ancient Japanese arts can, when intimately understood, influence the lives of those of us in the twenty-first century. "En" which Meher describes as "connection," swirls throughout this memoir of arts, motherhood, and friendship, as entrancing as walking down a winding path of an ancient Japanese garden.
---Leslie Buck author of Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship In The Gardens Of Kyoto
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews